Bright Lights, Brighter Futures
by PrincessTadashi
Summary: When a ragtag group of orphans are scouted by a big movie company to become the newest stars of a movie called "Big Hero 6", they jump on the chance to get away from their horrible foster home and start a new life for themselves. (Fredashi ; Fred/Tadashi)


"Honey Lemon? Go Go? Wasabi?"

"I spilled wasabi on my shirt one time, people. ONE TIME!"

"Fred's the one who comes up with the nicknames."

"Uh, who's Fred?"

"This guy! Right here!"

"Augh!"

"Uh-uh! Don't be alarmed, it's just a suit! This is not my real face and body! The name's Fred. School mascot by day. But by night… I am also the school mascot."

"So what's your major?"

"No, no, no. I'm not a student. But I am a MAJOR science enthusiast! I've been trying to get Honey to develop a formula that can turn me into a fire-breathing lizard at will, but she says that's 'not science'."

"I-It's really not."

"Yeah. And I guess the shrink ray I asked Wasabi for isn't 'science' either, is it?"

"Nope."

"Well then, what about, invisible sandwich? Imagine eating a sandwich, but everyone just thinks you're crazy!"

"Just stop."

"And...That's a wrap! Great job everyone, let's take a lunch, and then after the break let's get ready to shoot the 'Meet Baymax' scene! That means I'll need Hiro and Tadashi back here by 1:30, and not a minute later!"

"Yes sir!" Tadashi agrees, letting out a sigh of relief. They'd taken this take a good ten times this morning before the director has considered it "perfect". As much as every kid dreamed of starring or even just acting in a movie someday, it was a lot harder of work than he'd ever expected. Still, he couldn't complain. The fact that this movie was helping support his family-hell, what it represented, the fact that they were all here together and looking at a much brighter future than any of them could have ever hoped for or even imagined-made him firmly believe that it was all going to be worth it in the end. Not that he was sure exactly when this all would end. They'd all signed contracts which gave the studio the option to extend the movie into a sequel and possibly even a tv series, along with a major marketing campaign that would include quite a number of personal appearances by the new the "Big Hero 6" team, something which made him think that this whole thing was going to go on for a lot longer than he had expected than when the group of teens had been given the offer in the first place.

He could still remember the day it had happened like it was yesterday, although in truth it had been a few months-arguably either the three of the best or worst months of his life, depending on when you asked him. He'd never intended for all of this to happen. But then again, you can't exactly plan when you're going to end up gaining national and possibly even world-wide fame in the media. Tadashi honestly never would have picked fame by this route, if he would have ever picked the path of fame at all, but it had come to his family nonetheless. He supposed everyone had thought he was being "brave" or something-all he'd known was that he was trying to protect his rather eclectic family of orphans and he'd just done what he'd had to do. Tadashi had ended up in the foster system at age six after his parents had died in an accident and no relatives were found to take him in. He'd had the extremely unfortunate luck of ending up in the foster home run by Mr. and Ms. Inquisitor, two siblings who should never have been allowed within ten feet of a child, much less be given responsibility for them. They forced the kids under their charge to do manual labor on the "family" farm to the point that it was painful, working them from before dawn until they dropped into bed late at night, never afraid to physically punish any child who so much as stepped a hair out of place. It was hell on Earth, and the only thing that had gotten him through was his "adopted" siblings. David, or Wasabi, as he had been lovingly nicknamed after an incident involving him getting wasabi on his shirt and the kids trying to figure out how to clean off the stain before their "guardians" found out, had been there when Tadashi had first arrived-he was only a few months older than Tadashi, and they'd both assumed and been somewhat automatically been forced to take responsibility for all of the others, which sometimes meant taking the blame for their younger "siblings" in order to protect them, willing to take the beatings if it meant that they didn't have to see the pain and agony on the faces of the others. GoGo (actually Ethel) and Honey Lemon (Aiko) had come shortly after Tadashi, a few month apart-GoGo's mother was in prison for dealing in narcotics, Honey Lemon having been abandoned at a daycare center when her parents never came back for her and were never found (assumedly they'd skipped town because when the police had finally tracked down their apartment address the entire place was cleaned out and their car was never found in the city again.) The ones Tadashi had been closest to, though, were Hiro and Fred. Many people thought that Hiro and Tadashi were biologically related, but they were mistaken. Hiro had come to the foster home as an infant-he had been the result of a teen pregnancy, the mother having put him up for adoption but no one had actually stepped up to adopt him, forcing him into the system. Tadashi had fallen in love with the tiny baby the minute his foster "mother" had dropped the "caring and loving parent" act after the social worker had left and shoved the tiny bundle into the boy's arms, telling him to "take care of it". Yes, she'd actually referred to the baby as an "it", and Tadashi had never quite forgiven her for that. He hadn't forgiven either of the Inquisitors for a lot of the things they'd done, but the one thing he did have to be grateful for was the fact that they were responsible for him having met Hiro. Even though they weren't related, Tadashi had completely lost his heat to the tiny, malnourished baby he lovingly christened "otouto" (Japanese, his parents' home language, for "little brother".) Hiro had instantly latched onto him, refusing to let anyone take care of him but his "Dashi", and it was often Tadashi who took the brunt of the blows to cover for the more mischievous streak that had developed as the boy had grown older. Still, he loved his adopted baby brother as much as any biological sibling or parent would-possibly more-and he was willing to do whatever it took to protect him. Fred on the other hand… In some ways, Fred had had it both better and worse than the others. He had it better in that he knew what it was like to have parents and live in a loving home because his had been alive until he was thirteen. But then they'd gone "missing" on a trip to South America, leaving their son as an assumed orphan. While he did have relatives, they'd only been interested in his parents' fortune and none had offered or even been willing to take him in, leaving him to also be dumped into the system. Then to be forced into a life of hard labor and abuse after he'd been betrayed by the people he had thought he could trust? It would have broken most people. But somehow Fred remained impossibly, even irreverently optimistic about anything and everything, and he'd been something of a much needed ray of sunshine to the little family, especially to Tadashi, who had been about at the breaking point when he'd arrived. The two had somehow bonded, becoming so close of friends that they were practically brothers. Well, possibly more than brothers, based on the secret feelings that Tadashi actually harbored for him but had never gotten up the courage to actually share with him, fearing that the other teen turn away from him if he knew the truth.

When asked later why none of the kids had tried running away or reporting the Inquistors, they always gave a two part answer: first, that once or twice they had tried that and their lack of success had only resulted in excruciating punishments; second, that they were honestly afraid of getting separated. Even though they all looked very different and had very versatile personalities, they were a family, and families stuck together. It was the fact that their family was going to be split up which had finally caused Tadashi to act.

Eighteen was a very difficult age for foster kids-in a way, it was the magic age because they could escape whatever horrible situations they were in. It was also terrifying because, as soon as they turned eighteen, their foster parents no longer received any compensation for caring for them and so often dumped the newly turned adults out onto the streets without a second thought to fend for themselves. When Wasabi had turned eighteen and there was no mention of making him leave, Tadashi had held onto the hope that maybe the Inquisitors valued their use as manual laborers to keep them on. But then Tadashi had turned eighteen and suddenly he and Wasabi were faced with the news that they had twenty four hours to pack their bags and get off of the farm so that a new batch of kids could be brought in to take their place. At that point, enough was enough. Both infuriated and terrified at the idea of never seeing their family again (a lot could happen in the year before even Fred would become an official adult, let alone the others, who were at least a couple of years off), the two men took matters into their own hands. Even if they still risked losing the rest of their family, at the very least they could get them out of that horrible situation. They had packed their bags, all right-but before they left, they made sure to secretly get enough picture evidence of the real conditions they were living in (not the front that the Inquisitors always put up whenever social workers came by) and the many bruises and other wounds on their siblings bodies to get their "loving parents" at least investigated, if not thrown in jail. It had been a terrifying couple of days for Wasabi and Tadashi after they had gone to the police, unsure as to whether two still technically teenagers would even be taken seriously, and then as the investigation had actually taken place. Fortunately their own testimonies, along with that of their younger siblings, plus the pictorial and physical evidence was enough to do just what they'd hoped-get those bastards arrested and, the boys hoped, soon to be thrown in jail for good. But the problem remained-Tadashi and Wasabi were technically homeless-the tiny bit of money that they'd managed to save up over the years was basically gone after a couple of nights in the cheapest hotel that they could find, and their foster siblings were about to be shipped off to only heaven knew where. Tadashi desperately wanted to apply for custody of Hiro, at least, but with no steady job and no place for them to even live, how could he?

That's when a miracle happened. A whole series of miracles, actually. First was that the local news picked up on the story-six orphans being rescued from an abusive foster home was apparently a pretty major human interest story. The second miracle occurred when an estranged sister Tadashi hadn't even known his mother had had saw the story on the news and, recognizing Tadashi's resemblance to and sharing the last name of the man her deceased sister had been engaged to at the time of the argument that had resulted in their ceasing contact, had managed to contact him and, after some brief fact checking, turned out to be his aunt. After a rather emotional reunion (well, not exactly a reunion given they'd never actually met before-Aunt Cass, as the woman had insisted Tadashi call her, hadn't even known that she had a nephew), Tadashi's aunt invited him and Wasabi to come live with her in the apartment over her cafe, offering them room and board, as well as a small salary, in exchange for help in her restaurant. Sadly she couldn't afford to take all of the others in, but when she saw just how attached Tadashi was to Hiro and how much the boy had an uncanny resemblance to her deceased sister, she applied for custody of him as well. The third miracle that occurred was when a local group home actually had space for the rest of the little family, meaning that Tadashi and Wasabi would still be able to visit their siblings on a fairly regular basis and would know that they were in safe hands (or, if they weren't, they'd be able to actually do something about it.) And then the fourth miracle happened: the teens' story somehow went viral on the internet and, about a week after Tadashi and Wasabi had first gone to the police, a popular family movie company-possibly the most successful movie company in the world-approached them with a deal that they were hard-pressed to refuse. Apparently the company had been tossing around ideas for a new franchise that involved pulling together a group of teens and, basing the characters off of their individual personalities and talents, create a team of "superheroes" who would star in movies, tv shows, and possibly even live performances in their parks, cruise line, and wherever else they saw fit. It was an ambitious venture, but, given their vast media success, one they afford to take. They had just begun the process of trying to find the teens for said team when suddenly the perfection solution was practically dropped into their laps-here was a diverse group of teens of just the right ages for what they were looking for and they were already the current sweethearts of the general public. What better way to start this new venture off than to capitalize on the fame that was already there and just keep the momentum going? It was free publicity, and free publicity was the best form of publicity that there was!

Honestly, Tadashi had had his major doubts about this whole thing-he wasn't sure that he wanted to put his younger siblings under the microscope of the media when they'd just escaped one house of horrors. But the work would pay well-extremely well, in fact. Enough that he could easily apply for custody of Hiro himself, and possibly even be able to give Aunt Cass the needed funds to be able to create a foster home and become the legal guardian for the rest of their siblings as well. Between that and the fact that the rest of the teens seemed so excited about the idea of becoming stars-a bright, shining future after all of the horrible things that they'd been through-Tadashi had agreed to it.

The next few months had passed by in a blur. Aunt Cass leaving her cafe under the care of some of her trusted employees, the teens and their now legal guardian were all flown down to Burbank, California, where they were all put up in a lovely villa while they were shuttled from production meetings where they were interviewed by the script writers who were developing their "characters" and frantically writing the script of the first movie they were to appear in; to wardrobe fittings where they were being measured for and then asked to try on various costumes that they were to wear as their upcoming characters; and to interviews with all of the top media producers in the country who wanted a chance to talk to these so-called "rags to riches" orphans who were, according to most of the interviewers, living the dream that many adolescents would have killed to have. Tadashi honestly wasn't convinced that he wasn't just dreaming all of this, that something hadn't happened to him back on his farm-maybe he'd finally been hit too hard on the head and was in a coma right now, that he was going to wake up and all of this would turn out to be some crazy dream.

But it was moments like this, he thought as he followed his family into the craft services room where, as usual, an amazing lunch was spread out for them (although, in truth, anything tasted amazing after the tasteless mush that he'd subsisted for most of his life on), that he felt he really didn't care whether or not this all was a dream. In fact, if it was a dream, he never wanted to wake up from it because it was far more amazing than what he'd probably wake up to. He had his family. He had an actual home with a parental figure who genuinely loved him. Despite his reservations about some of this whole fame thing, including some of the scriptwriters' ideas (who was the horrible person who had decided to kill off his character, putting the rest of his family and friends into mourning, only to bring him back from the dead in the sequel? In real life, people didn't just "come back from the dead" like that-he should know, he and the rest of his family had spent enough time on fruitless hoping to know that, and while he understood the need for his character's death to bring about the formation of the superhero group, shouldn't they just leave him as dead? Still, apparently he had somehow gained enough-on his part, unwanted-attention in the media among adolescent females that the writers were insistent on bringing him back due to his contract he couldn't argue), it was keeping his family together and he knew the others were enjoying it all, so he would just be grateful for the blessings and try to deal his best with the unwanted parts of it. The truth was, everything was perfect. Or… almost perfect. He had one loose end that he wanted to tie up but that he was honestly afraid to even reach for the strings of for fear that this tenuous peace (well, relative peace) and happiness in all of their lives would unravel the second he touched them.

"Nii-chan, did I do good?" Hiro asks, tugging on Tadashi's sleeve to get his attention.

"What?" Tadashi snaps out of his thoughts at the sound of his little brother's voice, only to smile down at him when he sees the expectant expression on his sibling's face. "Good? No, you didn't do good-you did awesome!"

"Yes!" Hiro cheers, laughing as Tadashi picks him up and playfully spins him around.

While Hiro's character in the movie came off as a know-it-all and extremely sarcastic, albeit in a way that the audience would love him for it, in real life Hiro's relationship with Tadashi involved a lot less arguing and bantering and a lot more adorably sweet sibling moments. Maybe had they grown up with Aunt Cass like in the movie (yes, Tadashi's aunt had even been pulled into the film for a minor role), it would have been more like that, but having gone through hell and back together, with Tadashi having had to take on all the roles of father, sibling, and pretty much full-time protector for the younger boy, they were extremely close and both a little too emotionally fragile to risk anything, even a silly offhand comment, coming between them. That didn't mean that Hiro didn't know how to be a little sh*t sometimes though, especially when he thought that Tadashi was doing something he thought was ridiculous-like right now, for instance.

"You're doing it again," the younger boy says with a slight smirk.

"Doing what?" Tadashi asks, trying to keep the guilt out of his voice as he slowly puts the teen down.

"Staring at Fred," Hiro answers, raising an eyebrow at his elder sibling.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Tadashi says, blushing red.

"Uh huh. Sure you don't," Hiro drawls before shaking his head slightly. "Seriously, Dashi, just go talk to him already! You've liked him for, like, six years now-that's a really long time." A little more gently he adds, "Don't you think he deserves to know?"

"Hiro, that's the problem," Tadashi sighs. "It's been six years! By now he just sees me as a brother-a best friend, maybe, if I'm lucky. To tell him that I'm majorly crushing on him-that would just ruin everything, and I can't risk that, especially not when things are so perfect right now!"

"Dashi, the fact that everything is so 'perfect' right now is all the more reason to talk to him!" Hiro says. "If you don't do it now, before this movie comes out and everything goes crazy, you might never have a chance to do it!"

"Maybe that's the point," Tadashi mumbles.

"Excuse me?"

"Look, if Fred doesn't like me like that-and I have no reason to believe that he does-then maybe it's better if I let him be free to go find someone else instead of telling him and then making him feel guilty because he feels like he can't find someone else because it would hurt me…"

"Unbelievable," Hiro says after staring at the older man for a moment. "Seriously? That's your plan? Give up before you even have a chance? That is not the nii-chan I know!"

"I just don't want him getting hurt…" Tadashi mumbles.

"Screw that!" Hiro cries.

"Hiro, language!" Tadashi scolds.

"I don't give a flip about language right now!" Hiro groans. "Look, you need to go over there and be honest with him! If he doesn't like you like that, then fine, his loss! But at least you'll have tried, right? And you'll know that you can move on if he doesn't reciprocate-I'm sure that there's someone else amazing out there for you!"

"I just don't feel like I honestly ever could feel the way about anyone else like I do about Fred…" Tadashi says softly-as much as he honestly didn't know that much about love, he was pretty sure that he'd never find anyone else he could ever feel as safe and close as he did to Fred after all their years of late night talks after everyone else had gone to sleep, helping each other through the daily shit that life threw at them and comforting each other when things got to be too much.

"Then all the more reason not to let him slip away," Hiro says firmly.

"I...I'm sorry, I just don't think I can do this," Tadashi responds after an anxious minute, shaking his head.

"Tadashi, so help me, if you do not get over there and talk to him, I will literally lock you both in a closet and hide the key until you guys start making out," Hiro deadpans.

"You-You wouldn't!"

"Don't test me, bro. Now are you going to talk to him or not?"

"I… Fine," Tadashi sighs, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Good man!" Hiro laughs, playfully patting him on back before gently pushing him towards the other side of the room where Fred was sitting with Honey Lemon and GoGo, the three of them happily devouring pizza while giving imitations of each other's characters.

"This is insane… I can't believe you're making me do this," Tadashi says, taking a couple of uncertain steps.

"GO!" Hiro tells him firmly.

After what felt like an eternity, Tadashi finally reaches the other side of the room, finding himself standing awkwardly in front of the others, not sure exactly what to say or where to start.

"Hey Tadpole!" Fred says, grinning up at him when he finally sees him, making Tadashi's heart skip a beat or two. Tadpole-the name had never actually stuck with the others, but Fred still insisted on calling him that after an incident that had occurred soon after he'd first come to the farm when he and Tadashi had discovered a small pond where a family of baby tadpoles were growing. It might not have seemed like much, but seeing the then defenseless baby frogs who were on their way to becoming independent adults after they'd grown legs and dropped their tails had seemed like a hopeful metaphor for their own lives.

"U-um, h-hey Fred," Tadashi says uncertainly, rubbing the back of his neck which seemed to be growing uncomfortably warm.

"Come join us!" Honey Lemon brightly invites him, patting the couch cushion next to her.

"Oh, uh… T-thanks for the offer, but I was wondering if I could talk to Fred for a minute-y'know, somewhere private?" Tadashi replies, feeling his face turn even redder.

"Oooh…" GoGo gives him a slight smirk. "I think I know where this is going…"

"GoGo!" Honey Lemon scolds her before saying, "Of course! We don't mind if Fred doesn't, do we?"

"Sure," Fred answers, standing up and shrugging nonchalantly-Tadashi didn't know if that was a good sign or a bad sign. Hopefully he maybe just hadn't picked up on the true meaning of Tadashi's words as well as GoGo had.

Not sure what to say and honestly too scared to really say anything even if he did have the right words, Tadashi leads Fred over to a different corner of the room which was slightly secluded from the others. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do if he didn't want Hiro to actually make good on his threat of locking him in a closet.

"So, what's up?" Fred asks, taking a seat on the couch and gesturing for Tadashi to sit down next to him.

"I… Um… I'll be honest, I'm not really sure how to even begin…" Tadashi admits, feeling his blush intensifying.

"Hey, it's okay," Fred reassures him, his expression genuine and concerned. "You know that you can tell me anything, right?"

"I just… This is something really, really hard to say, and I'm afraid that you'll be really mad at me," Tadashi admits quietly.

"I could never be mad at you, Tadpole," Fred answers, gently squeezing the other man's hands. "C'mon, whatever you have to say, I promise I won't freak out on you or anything."

"Y-you're sure?"

"I'm positive."

"A-all right…" Tadashi takes a deep breath before saying softly, "I… I like you, Fred. Like, _like_ you, like you. And… I've wanted to tell you for a really, really long time, but I know that you see me as your brother or your best friend and I didn't want to make things weird between us so I didn't want to say anything but Hiro was threatening to lock us in a closet… So, um… Yeah. I-I think I'll just be going now before I make things even worse…"

"Wait, Tadashi!" Fred cries, grabbing his hand to keep him from leaving as he starts to stand up. "You can't just walk away after saying something like that!"

"Look, I just don't want to hurt you, okay?" Tadashi says, hating himself for ever even saying anything.

"Tadashi, look at me." Fred says, gently pulling him back down onto the couch. "I'm not hurt. I'm flattered, actually."

"But you don't feel that way, right?" Tadashi answers, wincing.

"Did I say that? No, I did not," Fred replies firmly. "Stop making assumptions for me, Tadashi."

"I just-" Tadashi starts to protest

"No. No 'just'. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I like you too?" Fred cuts him off.

"I-W-wait, you do?" Tadashi asks, staring at him in disbelief.

"Um, yeah!" Fred answers. "Of course I do! Sheesh, how could I not totally be crushing on the sweet guy who took care of me when I didn't have anyone else to turn to and was such an awesome friend to me all those years! I mean, yeah, you'll always be my bro and my best friend, but if you're ready to move it on to the next step-yeah, I'm totally there with you!"

"Y-you're sure about this? You actually do want to, like… Date me and be my boyfriend?" Tadashi stammers.

"Dashi, stop second guessing everything I'm saying! Dude, yes-I totally like you back and want to be your boyfriend. Do you need me to write it down and have it notarized or something?" Fred replies.

"No, I just… Oh my gosh, thank you!" Tadashi throws his arms around Fred, pulling him into a tight hug. "I promise, I will do everything I can to be the best boyfriend possible for you!"

"Tadashi, I don't need you to 'do' anything," Fred answers firmly, hugging him tightly back. "I just want you, as you, not doing anything crazy to try to 'prove yourself' to me or whatever. I like you just the way that you are, so don't ever change that, okay?"

"O-okay," Tadashi agrees, giving him a slightly watery smile and fighting the urge to cry-but this time, after all those years of crying from pain and loss, he finally knew what it was like to have happy tears.

"Now, c'mon, let's go get you some food, okay?" Fred says with a slight smile, standing up and gently tugging on his hand. "I don't want my new boyfriend passing out during his next scene because I didn't make sure that he actually ate lunch!"

"All right," Tadashi agrees, actually finding that he was able to laugh at that.

"You okay?" Fred asks, looking at his expression. "I kind of imagined this moment with you smiling, not looking like you'd just been playing a scene in the Titanic."

"S-sorry," Tadashi apologizes shakily. "I just… I know it might not look like it, but I'm really, _really_ happy right now."

"Hey, it's okay," Fred says softly, wrapping his arms around him. "It's going to be okay. We're going to be okay."

"Yeah," Tadashi agrees, hugging him back. "I-I know we are." And for the first time in a very, very long time, he finally knew that that was true.

((To _Some Blobby Blur,_ I'm sorry I can't respond to anon reviews but since I know you said you'd be rereading this I wanted to leave this note here for you :) Thank you so, so much for your sweet words, you have no idea how much they mean to me, and I hope that this story brings you happiness every time you read it.))


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